Death Note: The Great Act Of The False God
by Wiry
Summary: Takes place five years after the end of the Anime: All gods are merely men hiding behind a curtain, physical, or metaphorical. Five years after the disappearance of Kira, one man wants to illustrate this. A mere man wants to be seen as a god, a false one, a mere man wants to prove his superiority, his superiority over the man who bested Kira. Will his egotistical quest succeed?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Mikhail was enjoying dinner and the local news. He had come to Japan for a special_ occasion_. Watching the news intently, he glanced at the time on the screen. _"Soon," _he thought. Eating another bite of his salad, he started to count down, coolly staring at the television. As his count reached zero, nothing visible to him happened. _"Should be any time now…." _ Maybe ten minutes later, the newscaster began to look distraught. He was in the middle of a report when the news hit him: "Newly elected councilwoman Sayu Yagami said, in a statement today…. Oh… Oh!" His tone was shaky as he announced what had just come through his earpiece. "This just in...We're getting reports that criminals have started dying of heart attacks by the dozen, in Shinjuku alone! Reports are still filtering in, but we have every reason to believe that this may be an international phenomenon. More as we get it." Turning off the television, Mikhail began to plan his next move. The opening gambit had been flawlessly executed, every criminal broadcast since Kira's disappearance had died at once today; he had spent his time wisely, gathering the information he needed. Flawlessly, he had mimicked Kira's pattern of killing, judging criminals and killing them with heart attacks. Unlike Kira, however, he had scheduled their deaths years in advance, but this was necessary. It gave him the time to plan and analyze what he needed to do to pull his plan off. "_I've most certainly spent my time well, and now, it's time to carry out the plan. No longer will I be written off, no longer will I be 'One of' the best, I will be THE best." _He began to chuckle. At this, Nise, his shinigami who had been happily munching on potato chips, unaware of the news report, looked up at him. With a surprised tone in his voice, he asked "What's so funny over there? " His voice was gruff and slightly whimsical. Mikhail shrugged and simply said "You'll see tomorrow!"

Nise looked harshly at Mikhail, his seemingly permanent smile dropped for a moment. "No, I think I'd like to know now! When I gave you that Notebook, you promised me that there'd be FUN involved, fun and potato chips. That was five years ago! When you made the eye deal, you promised that the fun was close, that was two years ago! Five years, and I still only have potato chips! You need to pick more up by the way. Anyway, I came here to have more fun than Ryuk, and even though you write in the book all the time, no one ever seems to die! If I don't start enjoying myself in the next five minutes, I'm gonna write your name and find someone else!"

Mikhail gave Nise a hard look and shrugged again. "Fine. I've been laughing because your fun has just started! The act has begun. All those entries in the Death Note, five years' worth, just keeled over at once. From this day forward, people will die every day, and there'll be panic. You told me that Ryuk explained all of his adventures to you; well I'm going to one-up those, no matter what they are! Not only are you going to have more fun than Ryuk, I'll show you how easily humans can be manipulated, I'll show you this "New World" that Ryuk talked about, but most importantly, I'll show all of those people who wrote me off that I am smarter than them; Smarter than them all." Mikhail continued looking at Nise, a cool smirk on his face. Nise's skin, colored like tarnished bronze, contrasted deeply with his hair that looked like wild strings of polished brass. The skinny and plank-straight figure walked over to him, peering at his Death Note over his shoulder. He seemed to be reading intently. Suddenly, his grin returned, and he began to cackle maniacally. "You clever fox you, that is fun! Imagine those thousands of people all over the world just suddenly falling over dead! Sorry I doubted you, Mike!" Nise patted him on the back. It looked awkward because Nise was so tall. Nise returned his gaze to the list of names again, looking confused. "Wait…these names here… the dates have already passed. What are these?"

Mikhail's smirk never wavered. "I left some space before I began writing names. These were for the investigators of the Kira case. I knew one of them would slip up eventually, So I left ample space for them. When I asked for the eyes two years ago, that was because someone had gone on Television under a pseudonym, claiming to have investigated the Kira case. Once I had the eyes, I wrote his real name in my notebook with a few special instructions." He touched the name with his finger. Nise looked closely at it, it read: _Touta Matsuda, February 25, 2016, Accident. On February 2, sends a letter to the Hotel Shinjuku containing a picture of each of the Kira investigators, as well as all he remembers about the Kira case." _ Nise merely replied "I see." Mikhail continued "After receiving that letter, I did the same for the other investigators, specifying that they send a letter to a different hotel each time, and then dying of an accident or disease twenty three days later. Through these letters, I assembled knowledge of the Kira case equal to the knowledge of someone who worked on it. I also learned the identity of the real Kira, but you already know who that is." Nise nodded. "But what are you trying to achieve with all of this, Mike? All you've got is knowledge about a closed case and a few dead men. What's that for?"

Chuckling, Mikhail wagged his finger at Nise. "Don't you understand? I mimicked Kira as closely as possible, I assembled knowledge equal to what he might have known about the case, and what am I trying to achieve? It's obvious! I'm going to convince the world that I, Mikhail Mentider, am Kira. I am going to convince the one investigator that I cannot kill, L, that he was wrong, that who he caught was a puppet. I will achieve the same worship Kira got, but I am not Kira. I will outsmart the world, and then prove to them that their 'god' is just a man!"

Nise was confused by this, but his confusion didn't show. Instead, his grin stayed the same, and all he did was shrug. "As long as there's entertainment... and chips. Don't forget, we're almost out of those too." He grumbled. Flopping on the couch, Nise turned the television on and settled in, watching some cooking show.

Mikhail browsed the internet, looking for criminals to judge. He found a great many, sighing, he started to write down their names. He saved a few criminals for later, writing down their names with special instructions. He wrote more names, until he could find no more, then he wrote a final name, again, with special instructions. Apparently, crime came back with a vengeance after Kira's disappearance. It took a while, but criminals soon had nothing to fear, and began anew. Wars, too, resurfaced. Countries began to invade each other out of greed; the world looked like it was falling apart. Mikhail thought to himself while writing;_ "Kira had united the world; good people were free from evils done upon them, and the bad ones paid. Then someone had to catch him, kill him. L. I hate L. People always use L as the example of the smartest in the world. Well, this little charade will show them just how wrong they are."_

Calling to Nise, Mikhail announced; "I'm gonna turn in early, I don't want to miss a second of the mass panic on the early morning shows." Intent on his cooking show, Nise simply said between a mouthful of chips "Whatever, Night. "

Mikhail was about ready to drift off to sleep, thinking once again to himself "_My special criminals, a poet and an insane man, should be busily writing their goodbyes. This ought to get L's attention, especially when coupled with my third target: The Director of the FBI! The three of them ought to be more than enough to draw L's interest, and if not, well then I'll continue my killings until I find him and remove him. Either way, it's a win-win, for me, anyways." _ He chuckled slightly. _"Be warned, L, for I am going to dethrone you. I hold all the cards. You will bend the knee to me!" _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Mikhail awoke bright and early that morning. While making his breakfast of vegetable soup, he began thinking to himself. _"This is going to be great. It'll be hard for it not to make the news if L takes up the Kira case once again. In the event that he does, I'll make sure he's got plenty of clues to send him looking for me…Straight in the wrong direction. I've had years to plan this, all I need to do now is make it happen."_

Sitting at the couch with his breakfast, he turned on one morning show on the Television, and began streaming one on his laptop. The headlines were filled with things like "Recent Killings indicate return of Kira", or "Kira Saga Continues With New Round of Killings." The story was dominating the news everywhere. There were commentators on Japanese morning shows jumping to defend Kira, predicting the same drop in crime rates as before. Far outnumbering the Pro-Kira commentators were the critics, however.

Hiroto Kagome was the loudest of the panel of commentators. "Kira is a monster! He killed thousands of people and loomed over the world like a dark shadow, ignoring the various justice systems! We have to find Kira and make sure he can never commit another murder, he must be brought to-"

Mikhail wrote Kagome's name down, and he died of a heart attack mid-sentence. Coolly shifting his gaze to the next Kira critic, Mikhail wrote her name down too. He began to write the names of all of the critics being aired on the show, including the anchors themselves. Changing channels every so often, Mikhail wrote the names of every Japanese media personality that dared to criticize Kira. Soon, the media panic turned to absolute hysteria. Some personalities just sat quietly while the screen displayed information. Others got louder, screaming in frenzied tones, asking for Kira to spare them. They died too. _"I've certainly made a mark on Japan. If L takes the case, he'll turn his eye here first. That ought to shake his faith. He'll begin to doubt himself. He'll think that Kira was always operating in Japan, and framed Light Yagami. He'll make a mistake, and he'll reveal his face, and then I'll kill him. I've got it all figured out."_

Mikhail turned his attention to criminals for a time, writing name after name in his Death Note. There was no need to prolong their lives, he just let them die instantly. Murderers, rapists, thieves, terrorists, all of them would soon be dead. Minutes turned to hours as he wrote, he forgot all of his surroundings. He heard the scratch of his pen on the paper, the hum of his computer he was using to find names, suddenly, he heard Nise wail plaintively "We're out of chips!" This brought him back to reality, his task finished. All the criminals for today had been judged, most had died, and others were scheduled to die later tonight, so that the killings never really stopped.

Nise approached him from the couch. "You heard me, right? We're out of chips!" Mikhail shook his head and smirked, "I'll get some for you tomorrow, but right now, we've got a very special show to watch." Turning on the Television, Mikhail turned the station to an American news channel. There was a man in a suit giving a speech. This man was George Gonzalez, the Director of the FBI. He seemed to be in the middle of a speech, announcing the re-opening of the Kira case. "Aww, it looks like we're late to the party!" Nise mocked.

Mikhail's smirk didn't fade at all. "Oh no, Nise, we're about a minute too early!" Gonzalez was getting heated. "Kira is a Menace to society who can no longer be tolerated! That is why I am officially re-opening the Kira case. I promise the American public that we will catch this abominable serial kille-" Gonzalez died on the spot. Mikhail looked at Nise. "You see, Nise, I have to draw the attention of the man who brought Kira down: L. Before Gonzalez gave this speech, he should have put in a request to L to investigate the case again, at least, that's what I wrote. The speech was just the icing on the cake, it'll draw more news coverage than any Japanese media personality. If all goes according to plan, L will receive the request and accept it when he sees Gonzalez's death. Two of my special victims' final goodbyes, included in the request, ought to pique his interest." Mikhail settled in with some leftover soup from breakfast, and watched the panic his actions generated.

Near appraised the request Roger had forwarded to him. Supposedly, it came from the late Director of the FBI, George Gonzalez. It was a simple letter, and attached was a small text file. The letter read :

_L,  
Kira has returned, and we urgently request your help to track him down. We have reason to believe that the Kira you first caught was an imposter, a pawn. Attached to this E-mail is all the newest evidence, frightfully little, regrettably. Please review the evidence and deliver your response quickly. Time is of the essence to prevent more deaths._

Near turned his attention to the text file. Downloading and opening it, it contained only two things. The first was a poem written by a prisoner and completed moments before his death by heart attack. It was a short poem with no title:

_We are all puppets, dancing on strings,_

_Slaves to the fate the True God brings._

_Even the Moon-God of the Night was manipulated,_

_His actions and death all coldly stipulated;_

_By a Greater god than he._

"_Most interesting," _Thought Near, "_But what about the next item?"_

The next thing in the file was a letter written by a man in an institution. He had been found not guilty by reason of insanity, though he was clearly sane at the time he committed his killings. Apparently, he wrote this letter to no one shortly before dying of a heart attack. His body was clutching it after he died. The text of it was:

_It turns out there is a god after all, passing judgment on people. He is Kira, or at least controlling him. All those years they thought they got the right one, but they didn't! They don't know who the real Kira is, even if they've got him already locked up! The real Kira is me, I know it! I'm Kira! I was Kira all along! Now I go to serve the True God that is me!_

Near turned away from his screen for a moment, thinking._"That's odd. This would have been disregarded as the ravings of a crazy man had it not been for that poem. They are too similar to be isolated incidents. Clearly the last part of the letter is a poor attempt to imitate insanity on the part of Kira. If Kira really were one individual this whole time and Light Yagami was just a puppet, why would he announce himself now? That doesn't make sense for the Kira I know. It's gotta be another copycat." _Clicking the button to talk to Roger, Near spoke "This doesn't interest me, tell them I-" A flash of insight hit Near in that instant. _"Wait. This is too obviously an attempt to look like a copycat. It's almost intentionally careless. Kira wants me not to accept the investigation. I'm the only one that can find him, and he wants me not to be looking for him. Even if it is an imposter, this one suddenly became interesting. Well played, indeed." _ Without missing a beat, Near continued "Actually, tell them I accept the case."


End file.
